Dive Brief:

• The Kansas State Board of Education on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of schools being able to hire teachers without education degrees.  
• The decision is believed to give schools flexibility in hiring and the opportunity to pick teachers with specific subject expertise.  
• The decision is currently only temporary, as the board will meet again for a final decision following a 120-day period for public comment.

Dive Insight:

Summer this is when most teachers either resign or are fired, and, in turn, it's when schools do most of their hiring. Whether the change is made permanent in 120 days is inconsequential, since most schools will be done with hiring by then.

The decision to open the teaching market has pros and cons. One pro is the stated flexibility and potential of attracting real experts in certain fields. The con of course, is that schools may hire teachers with very little knowledge of critical pedagogy, behavior management, or how to effectively run a classroom. 

Indiana made news last month when it decided to test a slightly similar concept. The Indiana plan, which received preliminary approval from the state's education board, gives Indiana residents who have worked for three years and received a 3.0 in college the opportunity to get a license allowing them to teach classes on the field they work in. The idea was met with contempt from education activists in Indiana, who called it "reckless, scary, and just disrespectful.".